Advanced Specialist Speech and Language Therapist for Children in Care

         Responsibility for developing and delivering a communication strategy in partnership with the YJS / CiC Service. The model of care will focus on

-           direct treatment for individuals with high need

-           delivery of a range of interventions which will offer sustainable support to CYP

-             increasing community capacity by teaching and upskilling others

         Responsibility for providing supervision to other Speech and Language Therapists working with CYP with Social and Emotional Mental Health (SEMH) needs as required.

         Liaising with the Service Leads and key professionals within the Youth Justice / Children in Care services ensuring that there is joint agreement on service priorities and support for models of service delivery. 

      Provision of training and specific advice for staff.

         Specialist assessment of communication where a need is identified. Imparting complex and sensitive information to families and staff and applying appropriate behaviour management strategies for the CYP.

 Clinical Responsibilities

        To use highly developed interpersonal skills to:

Ø    Facilitate communication so that the needs of the young person are central to the process

Ø    Play a pivotal role in ensuring effective joint working for young people with communication difficulties.

         To prioritise own work and manage own complex workload efficiently and effectively

         To assess and analyse the communication environments within the services and use clinical knowledge to provide appropriate advice and training to staff.

         To assess and analyse speech, language, communication disorders in children with highly complex needs, using specialist knowledge to select appropriate formal and/or informal assessments, including standardised psychometric tests and skilled observations.

         To negotiate with parents/carers and education staff to agree appropriate management for students which may include any combination of the following:

Ø    Therapeutic intervention with CYP either individually or in groups

Ø    Groups run jointly with YJS/CiC Service staff.

Ø    Programmes jointly planned and implemented with YJS/CiC Service Staff

Ø    Directing and supporting others in carrying out individual programmes

Ø    Providing advice at a Universal level

Ø    Providing advice on specific strategies

Ø    Advising referral to other professionals where indicated.

         To recognise potential breakdown or conflict and use sensitivity and problem solving skills to reach agreement.

        To be flexible and responsive to CYP who may be challenging or have complex difficulties in order to prioritise theirs and your own safety

         To motivate CYP to achieve positive communication outcomes.

         To communicate complex and specialist information to others through face to face discussion, written reports and programmes, adapting communication style and content to the needs of the situation and the recipient.

         To liaise with other professionals and teams in a consultative capacity in relation to the management of groups or individuals.

        To attend or otherwise contribute to meetings involving families and other professionals, e.g. case conferences.

         To form productive and sensitive relationships with families, particularly where:

Ø    They may be in a state of emotional flux

Ø    Difficult or potentially unwelcome news needs to be given

Ø    There are potential barriers to communication.

Specialist/Specific Clinical Responsibilities

         To act as second opinion and advise other Speech & Language Therapists and other professionals about CYP with social and emotional mental health (SEMH) difficulties with respect to communication needs.

         To have knowledge of and take account of the potential communication and wider social and learning needs of service users

         Provide a screening assessment to CYP with a possible need.

         Provide specialist assessment for those with a clear need.

         Deliver intervention programmes to individuals or groups to support young people to develop their own strategies to facilitate communication.

         To work with CYP to develop bespoke communication passports, enabling them to easily inform others they are in contact with of how best to support them.

         To improve access to information for all CYP using the services. 

         To include modifying written information to help accessibility.

         To provide templates and advice to professionals on how to create accessible documentation (including leaflets and reports)

         Consultation with professionals involved with CYP to provide advice on how to communicate effectively or modify verbally delivered programmes to support engagement/compliance.

         Staff training to raise awareness of SLCN, help carers and staff to identify and enable the development of strategies to support the young people they deal with day to day.

         Train professionals in use of appropriate screening tools to identify and intervene early with CYP who have SLCN. 

         Audit and support all environments used by CYP and provide bespoke advice to create communication friendly environments.

Team Leader Responsibilities

In conjunction with the team leader for the Special School Team:

         To provide effective clinical leadership, enabling the team to deliver the highest possible care standards, ensuring that evidence based practice is used. To act as an excellent role model and exercise good leadership

         To develop and refine a communication strategy to be delivered by all school staff

         To plan, organise and co-ordinate the delivery of Speech & Language Therapy services within YJS / CiC Service

         To meet regularly with Service Leads to agree mutual aims and objectives, and to solve potential problems

         To act as the first-line contact for queries and complaints 

         To work collaboratively with key players in Special Schools and the SEMH SLT Team on joint ventures to integrate communication into the curriculum

         To negotiate accommodation

Working Relationships

         To work with the Team Lead for Special Schools and therapists in the wider team to achieve seamless and co-ordinated service provision, to design and provide training packages, and to develop project work.

         To consult with highly specialist SLT’s in Autistic Spectrum Disorders, Dysfluency, and school age SLCN, as appropriate and to jointly manage individual cases.

         To work collaboratively with a range of multi-disciplinary and multi-agency professionals to provide high quality specialist SLT services for CYP using the YJS / CiC service.

Within the Trust

         GP’s

         Consultants

         Clinical Psychologists

         Occupational Therapists

External

Professionals within the YJS / CiC Services

Specialist Teachers

Educational Psychologists

Social services

         Specialist SLT advisers from other districts

         Independent Speech & Language Therapists

         Parents and Carers

Service Evaluation and Research

         To contribute to the development, evaluation and monitoring of the team within the children’s speech and language therapy service , children’s services and department’s operational policies, including caseload prioritisation systems and care pathways

         To utilise theory, evidence-based literature and research to support evidence-based practice

         To provide statistical information on own workload, including activity and clinical effectiveness measures

         To participate in clinical governance and audit activities in the team, the wider Speech & Language Therapy service and within multi-disciplinary teams

         To participate in research/Fieldwork in the team, wider Speech & Language Therapy service and within multi-disciplinary teams if required, under the supervision of a lead researcher

         To participate in developing innovations in clinical intervention and quality standards setting in this specialist area

         To participate in the development of relevant policies.

         To monitor service delivery needs and collaborate with the Team Lead and head of service in implementing these

Teaching/Training/Support

         To contribute to the department’s development and provision of training packages and information materials for parents, staff and other professionals

         To develop training packages and information materials specific to communication in schools for children with SEMH.

         To train school staff in communication approaches for children with Social, Emotional, and Mental Health Needs

         To provide training in communication and Speech & Language development, to a range of other professional organisations in both public and voluntary sectors

         To provide professional and clinical teaching for SLT students

         To support junior colleagues, undergraduate Speech & Language Therapy students and assistants as part of their training, professional development and emotional support

         To promote the role of SLT’s and the importance of communication to visitors, students and volunteers

        To support the training of other professionals groups as appropriate

Professional

         To maintain clinical and non-clinical standards, and to work within the policy frameworks laid down by various government and professional bodies e.g. NHS, SWFT, SLT Department, Health Professionals Council (HPCP), Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists (RCSLT), and relevant government policies, such as the National Service Framework

         To continuously develop clinical expertise and achieve goals set for personal and professional development